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Hodor
Hold The Door, originally named Wylis, is a recurring character in the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth seasons. He is played by guest star Kristian Nairn and debuts in the series premiere, though he does not speak until "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things." Hold The Door is a simpleminded servant of House Stark at Winterfell working in the stables. After Bran Stark sustains a paralyzing injury, Hold The Door aids his mobility by carrying Bran from place to place, in his arms, in a basket on his back, and in a wheelbarrow. After Winterfell is captured by Theon Greyjoy, Hold The Door escapes with Osha, Bran, and Rickon. They leave a trail, then backtrack to hide in the Stark crypts. When emerging to find Winterfell burned, he leaves with Osha to take Bran and Rickon north to the Wall to Jon Snow. Their journey ultimately leads them beyond the Wall to find the Three-eyed raven appearing in Bran's dreams, and despite having to fight their way through Night's Watch mutineers, Roose Bolton's spies, and wights, they finally reach their destination. During one of his visions, Bran inadvertently summons the White Walkers and the Wights to their location. During the escape, the origin of the name "Hold The Door" is revealed, as Hold The Door is forced to "hold the door" (the only thing between Bran and several hundred undead pursuers) closed, sacrificing himself in the process to ensure Bran's immediate safety. Biography Background Hold The Door is simple-minded (i.e. mentally disabled) and he is only capable of saying one word, "Hold The Door", though he can apparently understand complex instructions other people give him. "Hold The Door" is a nonsense word, though in the process it became the name everyone calls him. In season 6, episode 5 "The Door," it is revealed that the name "Hold The Door" is derived from the phrase "hold the door." Nonetheless, House Stark set him to work at a productive occupation within his capacities, as a stableboy serving at Winterfell. Hold The Door is incredibly large and strong. While he is slow of wits, he is gentle and loyal to the Starks. HBO viewers guide, season 2 guide to houses, House Stark - Hodor entry He is actually Old Nan's great-grandson and only known relative. Season 1 Hold The Door greets the arrival of King Robert Baratheon with the rest of the Stark household. "Winter is Coming" ."]] Theon Greyjoy directs Hold The Door to carry the crippled Bran Stark to the great hall to meet Tyrion. He holds Bran while Tyrion offers to give him the plans for a new kind of saddle that he can ride even in his crippled state. "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things" Some weeks later, Hold The Door excitedly bursts into Bran's room with the saddle made from Tyrion's diagram. "A Golden Crown" Hold The Door bathes naked in the hot pool in the Godswood while Bran prays. Hold The Door is seen by Osha, who tells Bran that she thinks he must have giants' blood in him. Bran reminds Hold The Door to get dressed. Season 2 Bran dreams that he is Summer, seeing the world through the direwolf's eyes as he stalks through the Godswood and looks up at the Red Comet. He goes to the pool next to the Heart tree and looks down at his reflection. The next day Bran has Hold The Door carry him out to the godswood; Osha accompanies them and finds a plant that can be used to make a pain relieving tea. She asks Bran if he has had more strange dreams and he claims that he does not dream at all. He changes the subject to the comet, saying that he has heard men say it is an omen favoring Robb in the war. Osha says that she has heard people say the comet is Lannister red and favors their enemies and that she heard a stableboy say the comet was blood red and marked the death of Eddard. Hold The Door kneels by the pool and Osha helps Bran to the ground by its edge, affectionately stroking his hair. She tells him that stars do not fall for men and that a red comet signifies dragons. Bran stares at his reflection in the water and asserts that dragons are extinct. "The North Remembers" ."]] Bran continues to have wolf dreams. During one, he follows Hold The Door and again sees the world from Summer's point of view. Summer follows Hold The Door as he comes to wake Bran up. Bran looking through Summer's eyes jumps up on the bed, and Bran finds himself looking down at his own face. Bran wakes to find himself looking into Summer's eyes with Hold The Door looking on. "What is Dead May Never Die" Bran discusses his dreams with Osha as Hold The Door prepares his horse. Bran says that he dreamt that the sea came to Winterfell, flooding the castle and killing his people and killing Ser Rodrik Cassel. Ser Rodrik leads the garrison to relieve the siege of Torrhen's Square by an unknown enemy. "The Ghost of Harrenhal" The attack was a feint orchestrated by Theon Greyjoy who uses the opportunity to seize Winterfell. Later, Osha kills a guard, then leads Hold The Door, Bran, and Rickon out the gate, freeing them from the clutches of the ironborn. "The Old Gods and the New" They travel to a shepherd's farm on the outskirts of the Stark lands. Theon hunts for them with hounds, tracking them to the farm and then losing the scent. He returns to Winterfell with the charred corpses of two boys, claiming that they are Bran and Rickon. He makes no mention of Hold The Door and Osha."A Man Without Honor" ."]] When Maester Luwin sees Osha taking bread down into the crypts, he looks at the bodies and realizes that they are not Bran and Rickon. Later in the crypts, Osha tells him that after they escaped, they doubled back through a stream to mislead the hounds, and have been hiding in the crypts beneath Winterfell ever since. Realizing the bodies were orphans working at the farm and that Theon killed them so no one would know that Bran and Rickon had escaped him, they determine not to tell Bran as he would blame himself. However, Bran sitting next to a sleeping Hold The Door and Rickon has heard them. "The Prince of Winterfell" and Summer in "Valar Morghulis."]] When the escapees finally emerge from the crypts, Winterfell has been burned and Maester Luwin is badly wounded in the Godswood. He tells them that the children must be taken to the Wall to Jon Snow who will protect them from the invading ironmen and get word to Catelyn and Robb. Later, Hold The Door is pushing Bran in a wheelbarrow, while Osha carries Rickon, as they head away from Winterfell."Valar Morghulis" Season 3 Hold The Door is on the road to Castle Black, along with Bran, Rickon, Osha and the direwolves, Summer and Shaggydog. Bran continues to dream about chasing the Three-eyed Raven. In his dreams, he also encounters a strange boy, who he later meets while awake. The boy turns out to be Jojen Reed, accompanied by his sister, Meera. Jojen possesses the rare gift of seeing the past and present through his dreams, and is able to speak with Bran through their dreams. Jojen tells Bran that he is a 'warg', someone who can control the minds of animals."Dark Wings, Dark Words" After seeking shelter in a derelict windmill during a rainstorm, the group notice a band of wildlings chasing down an old man. The sounds of thunder terrify Hold The Door, who shouts out in panic. Fearing discovery, Jojen tells Bran to silence Hold The Door, who keeps panicking. Bran unintentionally uses his Warg powers to render Hold The Door unconscious. With the wildlings still outside, Jojen convinces Bran to Warg through Summer and Shaggydog outside, who then maul to death some of the wildlings. While in control of Summer and Shaggydog, Bran saw Jon Snow outside fighting the wildlings. He tells Osha to take Rickon with her to the holdfast of Jon Umber, a loyal bannerman of the Starks. Bran bids a tearful Rickon farewell, who leaves with Osha and Shaggydog, while Bran continues northward with Hold The Door, Summer and the Reed siblings."The Rains of Castamere" Later, the group arrives at the Wall and stay overnight in an abandoned castle. During the night, Samwell Tarly, with Gilly and her child, meet Bran and the Reeds in the castle. Samwell, noticing the gigantic Hold The Door and Summer, realizes who Bran is and offers to take them to Castle Black. They refuse and Jojen tells Sam that they are going beyond the Wall, as no force in the realm of Westeros could withstand the threat posed by the White Walkers. Sam reluctantly gives them the obsidian blades as well as obsidian arrowheads found north of the Wall, which he earlier used to slay a White Walker. True to his gentle nature, Hold The Door initially does not want to take the blade offered to him, only taking it when directly told to do so. That night, Bran, the Reeds, Hold The Door and Summer finally pass beyond the Wall."Mhysa" Season 4 Hold The Door is captured by the mutineers alongside his companions when they scout Craster's Keep and attempt to free Summer and Ghost. While Bran, Jojen, and Meera are taken inside the keep, Hold The Door is chained up outside and abused by the mutineers. Rast stabs him in the leg with a spear and states that if he was as big as Hold The Door, he would be "king of the fucking world"."Oathkeeper" When Locke attempts to kidnap Bran during the Raid on Craster's Keep, Bran wargs into Hold The Door and ambushes Locke. Using his immense strength, the Bran-controlled Hold The Door lifts Locke off the ground and snaps his neck. Hold The Door is visibly disturbed when he regains control of his body. He later escapes with the rest of his companions."First of His Name" As the group continues to travel north, they finally arrive to the Heart tree from Bran's visions. As they are approaching the tree, the group is soon ambushed by skeletal wights. Bran wargs into Hold The Door again to fend them off, but there are too many of them. As they are about to be overwhelmed, one of the Children of the Forest saves the group with her magic. Hold The Door carries Bran into the cave beneath the Heart tree where the wights cannot reach them, and brings him near the Three-eyed raven."The Children" Season 6 Hold The Door remains with Bran in the Cave of the three-eyed raven as the young Stark explores his abilities. Bran has a vision of Hold The Door in his youth, named Wylis, as an articulate and well-liked stablehand. He helps Lyanna Stark from her horse while watching Ned Stark spar with Benjen Stark. Lyanna suggests that Benjen find a new sparring partner with Hold The Door after Ned leaves for the Eyrie, and gives Hold The Door fencing tips. Hold The Door and Benjen almost have a match when Old Nan comes outside and discourages Hold The Door from learning to fight, since he is a stableboy, though Ned remarks that with his size, Hold The Door would make a formidable fighter. Bran later attempts to use Hold The Door's original name and get him to speak, but gets only "Hold The Door" in response. Hold The Door later carried Bran outside the cave to speak with Meera, then brings him back in when it becomes clear Meera doesn't want to talk."Home" Despite being warned against doing so, Bran uses his greenseeing powers without the aid of the Three Eyed Raven. During this vision, he is seen and touched by the Night King, physically marking Bran and destroying the magical barrier protecting the cave. When the White Walkers and thousands of wights attack, Hold The Door bars the back exit of the cave to allow Bran and Meera time to escape. It is revealed that Hold The Door's disability was caused by Bran inadvertently warging into Wylis, linking the minds of the present-day Hold The Door and the young stableboy from the past. This mental trauma caused Wylis to seize. As he did, he heard Meera shouting the phrase "Hold the door!" through Bran and began repeating it, eventually slurring the sentence together enough to reduce it to a single word: "Hold The Door." Through Bran's warging, young Wylis has experienced his own future death, destroying his mind. Hold The Door's entire purpose is revealed to be to hold the door at this point in time so that Bran may escape, even at the cost of his own life. While Bran and Meera escape, Hold The Door is torn to shreds by the wights that have broken through parts of the door, but despite everything he held the door. The Door Personality Hold The Door generally seems to have a happy demeanor, overjoyed by basic things like presenting Bran with a new saddle, hearing the echo of his own voice in a well, or greeting one of the Stark direwolves. He is deeply loyal to the Starks, who have treated him very well, apart from the time Bran Stark warged into him as a child to save himself causing Hold The Door to become simple-minded. Despite his large size and strength, Hold The Door is a gentle soul who is terrified by violence - even violence done by himself, as he often cowers in fear instead of fighting back against foes who are actually smaller than he is. Even so, his loyalty to the Starks is so great that he continues to follow (or rather, carry) Bran Stark through great dangers. In his youth, Hold The Door is shown to be capable of speech, though still somewhat slow-witted, and is friends with Lyanna, Ned and Benjen Stark. Abilities Although normally peaceful, Hold The Door's imposing size, incredible physical strength and years of service to the Starks have made him a force to be reckoned with whenever the situation demands it. He is able to carry Bran on his back over long distances with no visible signs of fatigue, and (under Bran's control) lift a full-grown man off the ground and break his neck with minimal effort. However, he lacks initiative and does not enter combat unless being warged by Bran. Appearances Image Gallery House Stark and retainers.jpg|Hodor stands beside the Stark family as they await the arrival of the king in "Winter is Coming". Hodor 1x04.jpg|Hodor in Winterfell in "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things". Hodor 1x06.png|Hodor holds Bran's new saddle in "A Golden Crown". Bran-stark-and-hodor-issac-hempstead-wright-and-kristian-nairn-helen-sloan.jpeg|Promotional image of Bran and Hodor in the second season. HodorGreetsSummer.jpg|Hodor greets Summer the direwolf in "What is Dead May Never Die". Bran surrenders Winterfell.jpg|Hodor stands in courtyard when Bran surrenders Winterfell to Theon in "The Old Gods and the New". Bran wargs into Hodor.jpg|Bran wargs into Hodor in "First of His Name". Quotes Behind the scenes Hold The Door is not described in the books as having a large scar on his right temple: this was added by the makeup department of the TV series to hide a tattoo possessed by actor Kristian Nairn. When asked if it was difficult to express a range of emotions when playing a character who can only speak a single word, Kristian responded: :"Unlike in the book, where Hold The Door's emotions are portrayed by a combination of the single word, the situation, and the reader's imagination, I have a very powerful medium to use as well: my body language. I was partially deaf when I was a child, and often in school, before I was fixed, I had to read context and emotions from people's faces and body language. That's also a huge part of sign language, and my knowledge of that (although I'm extremely out of practice) has put me in good stead for this part."Game of Thrones Special Collectors Edition: An Unofficial Guide to the Most Epic Fantasy Series in History. "Hodor Speaks", page 58. In the books, Hold The Door's real name is actually "Walder". This is apparently a relatively common name in Westeros, but as it is also the name of the infamous Walder Frey, it seems that the writers decided to change the name to "Wylis" for the series to avoid confusion. In the books In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Hold The Door has brown hair and a brown beard and is the great-grandson of Old Nan, the oldest woman in the castle. When Bran tells Nan that the only thing Hold The Door is sure of is his own name, Nan laughs as Hold The Door's real name is actually Walder: "Hold The Door" is the only word he seems capable of speaking, and has become his name. The meaning of the word is revealed in the TV series. Episode 6.2 "Home" established in a flashback scene that Hold The Door's real name is "Wylis" in the TV continuity (spelling confirmed from subtitles). The TV series probably changed this to remove any confusion with Walder Frey. There is no reason whatsoever to think the two are related: "Walder" is just a very common name in Westeros (about as common as "Walter" in real life), and a dozen other characters are introduced in the narrative who happen to also be named "Walder" - many of them not even Freys. The TV series didn't have time to introduce all of these minor one-off characters, so if it actually called him "Walder" it would probably only have strengthened the implication that he's related to the only other "Walder" who has appeared before. The actor who played young Hold The Door, Sam Coleman, confirmed that the spelling of his name in the script was specifically given as "Wylis", with one "L" - not "Wyllis", "Willace", etc.Sam Coleman's Twitter It is stated that Old Nan's two sons died in Robert's Rebellion, and her daughters moved away and died (presumably childless), while her grandson died in the Greyjoy Rebellion. While the exact relationships have not been explicitly stated, this presumably means that it was Hold The Door's grandfather who died in Robert's Rebellion, and Nan's grandson who died in the Greyjoy Rebellion was Hold The Door's father. There is widespread speculation that Hold The Door is a descendant of the famous knight Duncan the Tall, who eventually rose to be Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under his friend King Aegon V Targaryen. Ser Duncan ("Dunk") and Aegon "Egg" Targaryen are the two main characters in the "Tales of Dunk and Egg" prequel novellas, which start about 90 years before Game of Thrones begins. George R.R. Martin has stated that, with time-jumps in between each story, he intends for the prequel novellas to cover the entire lives of Dunk and Egg, up until about 50 years ago. Like Ser Duncan, Hold The Door is also extremely tall. The upcoming fourth prequel novella, The She-Wolves of Winterfell, reveals that Ser Duncan traveled to Winterfell. At one point Bran Stark has a greensight vision of the past, and sees a very large man "as tall as Hold The Door" in the Winterfell godswood, being kissed by a slender young woman - who might have been Old Nan. There is also speculation, based on some hints given by George R.R. Martin, that Brienne of Tarth is also a descendant of Ser Duncan, due to her great height, and also because she recalls seeing an old shield in the armory at Tarth with heraldry that readers would recognize as matching Ser Duncan's personal sigil. If true, this would make Hold The Door and Brienne second cousins. Actor Kristian Nairn is aware of this theory, but when asked about it at conventions has not confirmed it: logically, Hold The Door probably doesn't know if Ser Duncan was his great-grandfather, so the writers wouldn't have told Nairn, because it would not affect his performance (just as Kit Harington has emphasized that the writers never told him who Jon Snow's mother is, because it's a plot point that Jon himself doesn't know). There is widespread speculation that Hold The Door is a descendant of the famous knight Duncan the Tall, who eventually rose to be Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under his friend King Aegon V Targaryen. Ser Duncan ("Dunk") and Aegon "Egg" Targaryen are the two main characters in the "Tales of Dunk and Egg" prequel novellas, which start about 90 years before Game of Thrones begins. George R.R. Martin has stated that, with time ime-jumps in between each story, he intends for the prequel novellas to cover the entire lives of Dunk and Egg, up until about 50 years ago. Like Ser Duncan, Hold The Door is also extremely tall. The upcoming fourth prequel novella, The She-Wolves of Winterfell, reveals that Ser Duncan traveled to Winterfell. At one point Bran Stark has a greensight vision of the past, and sees a very large man "as tall as Hold The Door" in the Winterfell godswood, being kissed by a slender young woman - who might have been Old Nan. There is also speculation, based on some hints given by George R.R. Martin, that Brienne of Tarth is also a descendant of Ser Duncan, due to her great height, and also because she recalls seeing an old shield in the armory at Tarth with heraldry that readers would recognize as matching Ser Duncan's personal sigil. If true, this would make Hold The Door and Brienne second cousins. Actor Kristian Nairn is aware of this theory, but when asked about it at conventions has not confirmed it: logically, Hold The Door probably doesn't know if Ser Duncan was his great-grandfather, so the writers wouldn't have told Nairn, because it would not affect his performance (just as Kit Harington has emphasized that the writers never told him who Jon Snow's mother is, because it's a plot point that Jon himself doesn't know). Hold The Door is incredibly strong and over seven feet tall, making him taller than even Greatjon Umber (who is slightly less than seven feet tall). This causes Osha to remark (as in the TV series) that she wonders if he has giant's blood in him. Actor Kristian Nairn is actually nowiki>6'10'' and thus slightly shorter than Hold The Door is described, however, clever use of camera angles makes him seem taller. Also, being paired with the child Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark) results in a forced perspective which makes him seem proportionately taller (as opposed to if he was standing next to Brienne of Tarth or Sandor Clegane in many scenes, which he does not). There are many instances showing Hold The Door's great strength, such as pushing up a roof beam and pushing open the crypt door, even after part of the tower has fallen against it. However, he is very docile and never shows aggression, even when being taunted or bullied by others much weaker than he is. In the books, there are numerous instances in which the mentally handicapped are forced into demeaning positions as court fools, etc., and not just among the smallfolk. Even handicapped persons born into noble Houses are often reduced to being court fools and aren't treated as blood relatives. For example Aegon, the second son of Stevron Frey (himself the first son of Walder Frey) was born mentally handicapped and is put in a degrading position as the court fool at The Twins and nicknamed "Jinglebell". This demeaning treatment given to the mentally handicapped is similar to the discrimination that he faces due to his dwarfism: as he points out, had he been born a commoner, they'd have simply left him out in the woods to die as a baby. Hold The Door offers a contrast between how House Stark and most other noble Houses treat the mentally disabled and the weak in general. Instead of making him a court fool or social outcast, the Starks have treated Hold The Door with respect as a person, giving him an actual vocation within his ability so he can live as a fairly functional member of society. The Starks and Maester Luwin have occasion to tell others, such as the two Walder Frey fosterlings, to not abuse or make fun of him. According to the TV series official Pronounciation Guide developed for the cast and crew, the name "Hold The Door" is pronounced "HO-dor". In The Door Game of Thrones S06E05, it is revealed that Bran is responsible for Hold The Door's inability to speak. During the final vision of The Three-Eyed Raven , where Bran sees his father Eddard advised by his own father in Winterfell, young Hold The Door assisting Old Nan. In the present, Meera Reed frantically urges Bran to control Hold The Door and carry him to safety as they are set upon by White Walkers and so Bran takes control of the boy before him. As Meera frantically pleads for Hold The Door to "hold the door" against the onslaught of pursuing Walkers, Bran watches the young Hold The Door sink to the ground, convulsing and screaming "Hold the door" with increasing unintelligibility. The aftershock of this neurological trauma, seemingly brought on by Bran taking control of him while in a vision, leaves him with his signature expression. See also * (MAJOR spoilers from the books) References de:Hodor pl:Hodor ru:Ходор zh:阿多 Category:Characters Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Season 2 Characters Category:Recurring Characters Category:House Stark Category:Smallfolk Category:Season 3 Characters Category:Characters from the North Category:Season 4 Characters Category:Mounts Category:Season 6 Characters Category:Status: Dead